JDPFu.com 2025

There’s a least 1 major issue with high speed rail in the USA, once you get where ever you are going, then you either need to rent a car or take a taxi to get around. That isn’t true everywhere, but even in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, which have great subway systems, you probably need a car to get around. I can’t speak for other locations, since I’ve never been.

If the local mass transit systems don’t serve the local people well enough to be used, why are we spending money on high speed rail lines to connect cities when airlines already perform this task cheaply.

Joe Biden’s love of rail, doesn’t make it a good way to spend my tax dollars. Sorry, Joe.

I could use Amtrak rail to get between my home town and relatives 7 hours away by car. I used to fly, before air travel became such a hassle.

Is Amtrak competitive? Flying is the quickest way and cost competitive, IMHO.

I live in a metro area with a subway and many bus lines. I’ve worked where a subway stop was below the building, yet it didn’t make any sense for me to use mass transit for my commute requirements. I even paid about $50/month for parking. Many of the people working in and around that location did use the subway and bus systems. It worked for them, however, I know of a number of people who lived and worked on a subway line, yet still didn’t use the subway because of the perceived extra cost to use it and inconvenience to access areas that aren’t served. In this town, you really have to want to use mass transit.

Why didn’t I use mass transit to commute?

1. Driving commute was 35 min each way.
2. Drive to bus (20 min), take bus into city (40 min) – almost double the commute time, each way.
3. Occasionally, my job required me to travel to different locations in the metro area that were not served by mass transit. Perhaps 4 times a month, I’d need to drive into work and pay for daily parking at $6/day.
4. Couldn’t group work and errand drives together – yes, this is a weak excuse.
5. Mass transit cost – $75/month. I figured my commute costs were $80/month with the car.
6. Type-A personality. I like to be in control. As I drive to/from work, I’d routinely pass the express bus going to my part of town.
7. As telecommuting became more and more possible, commute costs dropped due to fewer trips and parking costs going down due to increased parking availability. I parked at 5 different parking lots over the years, following the cheapest rates. Paying for parking is just wrong.